The son of the late president Chiang Ching-kuo (
Hsu Shui-te (
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
In the book Hsu, the outgoing president of the Examination Yuan, criticizes Chiang Hsiao-wu's (
The autobiography also contains Hsu's life philosophy developed over his decades of public service.
The book was authored with the help of independent news commentator Hu Chung-hsin (
According to the book, Chiang as the de facto ambassador to Japan, had formed the Shimbokukkai (親睦會), an informal group made up of junior Diet members from the lower house, in 1991 as a part of efforts to enhance interactions between Taiwan and Japan.
But the move upset the Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council. The council, better known as the Nikkakon (
"In a society where seniority is highly respected, Nikkakon members were quite offended because their views were not sought nor had they been properly informed beforehand in regard to the forming of Shimbokukai, a group made up of junior politicians," an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who asked not to be named, told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Because of the misunderstanding, Hsu recounted in the book, he was ignored by Nikkakon after taking over from Chiang in June 1991.
"To take care of the council's animosity toward Taiwan, I made a special effort to dine with Nikkakon's chairman, Fujio Masayuki, every day as well as invite him for a visit to Taiwan, which eventually worked to change the council's attitude toward Taiwan," Hsu said in the book.
The anonymous foreign affairs official said that to gain trust from Japan, it's especially important to spend time with Japanese officials.
Today, Nikkakon remains the main informal channel between Taiwan and Japan. In addition, a link called the Taiwan-Japan Friendship Association was founded last year by DPP legislator Lin Chung-mo (
At yesterday's book launch, Hsu said he wanted his autobiography to serve as "an inspiration" to the public in their pursuit of goals and dreams, as he succeeded despite coming from a poor background.
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